Sulky including adjustable seat



- July 28, 19591 c. F. G'AINES ETAL 2,896,962

SULKY INCLUDING ADJUSTABLE SEAT Filed Dec; 51, 1956 i 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.I

Z5 van fo m John R. Gaines ClorenceEGaines Chester C. De Pew July 28, 1959 c. F. GAllQE AL 2 6 6 .sur.; y INCLUDING ADJUSTABLE SEAT Filed Dec. 31, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 z/ n/ enro rlr John R. Gaines Clarence F. G i Chester 0. De P William J. Corry M wm main July 28, 1959 c. F. GAINES ET AL 2,896,962

sum: INCLUDING ADJUSTABLE SEAT Filed Dec. :51, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet s -/-l* r I fiv/enfonr John R. Gaines .4 :Clurence F. Gaines Chester C.D e Pew William J. Carry a! M United rates Patent SULKY INCLUDING ADJUSTABLE SEAT Clarence F. Gaines and John R. Gaines, Sherburne, and Chester C. De Pew, Norwich, and William J. Carry, Farmingdale, N.Y.; said John R. Gaines, De Pew and Carry assignors to said Clarence F. Gaines Application December 31, 1956, Serial No. 631,964

2 Claims. (Cl. 280-63) This invention relates generally to an improved and novel construction of horse racing sulkies and pertains more particularly to the construction and arrangement of parts comprising a sulky wherein the same may be utilized to impose a handicap upon the horse to which it is attached.

It is present practice in sulky racing to so attach a sulky to the horse as to impose no vertical component of weight upon the horses back so that he must exert substantially only a pure pulling force upon the sulky in moving it around the track. This is true of the sulky in its fully loaded condition, that is, with the driver seated on the sulky. It is a primary concern of the present invention to so construct and arrange the component parts of a sulky so as to permit a predetermined and variable vertical load component to be imposed upon the horses back when the sulky, fully loaded, is attached to the horse, thus imposing a predetermined handicap on the horse which may be determined in accordance with the usual manner of determining handicaps as is, for example, used in saddle racing.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means by which the weight of the sulky and driver as transferred to the horses back may be shifted in a predetermined fashion to achieve a particular and set vertical component of force upon the horses back to impose a handicap thereby.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel sulky construction wherein the drivers seat is longitudinally shiftable of the frame so as to increase or decrease the effective weight upon the horses back and thus provide an adjustable handicapping means.

A further object of this invention is to provide means by which the vertical component of weight upon the horses back when attached to a sulky may be shifted by means of weights, variable at will so as to achieve a desired handicap.

Still another object of this invention resides in the provision of a longitudinally shiftable riders seat as set forth hereinabove wherein the seat construction and its mounting is so arranged as to form a structural part of and rigidity the usual frame members of the sulky.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel sulky construction including generally triangular mounting pieces for a longitudinally adjustable drivers seat wherein the long legs of the triangular pieces are respectively utilized to -mount the same upon the frame and rigidify the frame of the sulky and to slidably mount the drivers seat.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel seat construction and mounting arrangement in conformity with the foregoing object wherein the stated triangular members are bridged by a saddle element in turn mounting the seat and wherein the saddle element is provided at opposite sides with tubular portions telescopically engaging the uppermost legs of the triangular pieces so as to be slidable therealong and wherein lock elements are associated with such tubular portions to selectively position the saddle element and thereby the seat in longitudinal adjustment with respect to the sulky frame so as to shift the drivers weight either forwardly or rearwardly with respect to the frame and thus vary the verti'cal component of weight at the point that the sulky is hitched to the horse.

With the above and other objects in View, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, il-

lustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a sulkyconstructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the novel form of sulky construction;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevational view showing the seat construction and a portion of the associated sulky frame; and

Fig. 5 is a partial plan view of the assembly shown in Fig. 4.

Referring at this time more particularly to Fig. 1 wherein the conventional type of sulky'construction is shown, the reference character 19 indicates the usual sulky shaft assembly with a pair of supporting wheels 11 which are interconnected by means of an inverted U-shaped frame piece 12 carrying suitable axles at its opposite free ends upon which the wheels 11 are journalled. Rigidly secured to the frame element 12 is the longitudinal frame assembly which is of U-shaped configuration and includes the opposite side pieces 13 interconnected at their rearward ends and extending forwardly from the main body portion of the sulky to straddle the horse to which the sulky is to be hitched in the manner shown. Extending upwardly from adjacent the lower end portion of each of the frame elements 12 is a bracing member 14 having its upper end rigidly secured to one of the side pieces 13 and supported upon the bight portion of the upper frame unit is a seat designated generally by the reference character 15 upon which the driver is seated.

The usual girth strap 16 and cushion pad 17 are strapped to the horse with the girth strap being provided on opposite sides of the horse with the attaching elements 18 by means of which the draft elements of the frame are secured to the horse. Normally, the sulky is so hitched to the horse that even with the driver seated in the seat 15, there is no vertical downward component of force transmitted to the horses back through the harnessing assembly and in this respect the seat 15 is normally positioned far enough back so that if-any vertical component of force at all is transmitted to the horse, it will be in a vertical upward direction and the net result is that the horse exerts substantially a pure pulling force on the sulky frame and there is no handicap transmitted to the horse due to a vertical downward weight component.

As shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, the sulky according to this invention embodies the usual inverted U- shaped frame portion 19 carrying the axles at its lower ends for mounting the wheels 20 and the upper generally horizontal frame portion indicated generally by the reference character 21 which is also of U-shaped configuration having its bight disposed rearmost and its opposite legs extendi'ng forwardly to straddle the horse in the conventional manner. The sulky in accordance with this invention is further provided with the usual upwardly projecting brace 22 extending between the lower end of each vertical leg of the frame portion 19 and the horizontal frame portion 21. e e p The manner in which the sulky disclosed herein differs from the coventional design is in the utilization of a pair of mounting elements 23 which are of generally trian'gu lar configuration as can be seen most clearly in Fig. 4. In this figure, the reference character 24 designates the rearwardly disposed bight portion of the upper frame element 21 with such bight portion projecting through each triangular mounting element 23 in the manner shown and being rigidly fixed thereto such as by the welding 25. The lower leg 26 of each mounting element 23 is preferably fixed or secured to the bight portion 24 and this same leg portion in each case overlies the bight 27 of the frame element 19 and is rigidly aflixed thereto such as by the welding 28. In this manner, the triangular mounting pieces are at once rigidly affixed to the sulky frame and also provide rigidifying elements therefor in establishing a more rigid interconnection between the frame portions 19 and 21. The upper leg 29 of each mounting element is utilized to support the seat assembly which is generally designated by the reference character 30 and as is shown most clearly in Fig. 5, this seat assembly includes a transversely elongate saddle portion indicated generally by the reference character 31 which may take the form of a sheet of metal having its opposite ends rolled into tubular form as is indicated by the reference character 32 and with each of these ends snugly but slidably embracing an associated upper leg 29 of the mounting assembly 23. The seat proper 33 is fixed directly to the upper surface of the saddle 31 and is thus securely mounted on the elements 23.

Each end portion 32 of the mounting saddle carries a cantilever spring strap 34 securely fixed as by a rivet 35 at one end to the undersurface of the associated end portion 32 and extending rearward-1y therefrom and carrying adjacent its rearward free end an upstanding detent element 36. The detent projects through an opening in the undersurface of the associated end portion 32 and through a registering opening in the undersurface of the upper leg 29 and for the purpose of longitudinally shifting the seat assembly with respect to the sulky frame, the undersurface of each upper leg 29 is provided with a series 37 of such registrable openings. The extreme rearward end portion 38 of each spring strap is angled downwardly to provide a portion which may be conveniently grasped to bend the strap downwardly and withdraw the detent 36 from the registering holes 37 so that the seat assembly maybe shifted to any desired position whereafter the straps 34 are released to snap once again in place and lock the seat assembly in desired position. In Figs. 4 and 5, it will be evident that a sealing assembly may be utilized in conjunction with the spring straps 34 and for this purpose, it may be convenient to utilize a length of wire 39 passing through an opening provided in the single tab portion 38 of each strap and then through a pair of adjacent openings 37 and back around to be united with the other free end of the wire by means of a conventional sealing button 40 made of soft material such as lead or the like. The purpose of the seal, of course, is to prevent unauthorized tampering with the position of the seat assembly since this would be determined and fixed for a particular horse and rider and, of course, in the interest of fairness should not be altered after having once been set.

It is preferred to use, in addition to the longitudinally adjustable seat assembly, means by which a small predetermined amount of handicap can be accomplished and for this purpose the free ends of the shafts which form part of the upper frame portion 21 are provided with fixed weight elements 41 which are preferably perma- 4 nently aflixed thereto and form a part of the sulky assem bly, see Fig. 3.

'Fig. 2 illustrates that the novel sulky constructed in accordance with this invention is hitched to the horse in the usual manner by means of the girth strap 42 and cushioning pad 43.

Referring again to Fig. 1, it will be seen that there is used'a construction on the side rails 13 which is similar in purpose to the weights 41 previously described in conjunction with Fig. 3. However, as shown in Fig. 1, the weights 44 are attached to their associated shafts 13 in such manner as to be longitudinally slidable therealong and for this purpose, these Weights preferably are of cylindrical form to snugly fit over and slide along the shafts. However, it is preferred that some means such as the split clamp elements 46 be fixedly associated with each weight so that they may be clamped fixedly to the associated shafts or side pieces 13 at any desired point therealong. In this manner, the longitudinally shiftable Weights 44 may be utilized in conjunction with the shiftable seat assembly so as to achieve a Wide range of handicapping possibilities as may be required in accordance with rules established for this purpose.

What is claimed is:

l. A handicapping sulky for harness racing comprising a frame including a pair of substantially parallel draft tongues, wheels supporting said frame for movement along the ground, means for weighting said sulky to vary the vertical downward component of force at the point of attachment of said tongues to a horse for effecting a predetermined amount of handicap upon the horse, said means comprising weight members attached to the free ends of said tongues, and means connwting said weight members to said tongues for longitudinal shifting movement of the weight members along said tongues.

2. In a sulky for handicapping purposes including a generally U-shaped main frame having a pair of substantially parallel draft tongues interconnected at their rearward ends by a bight portion extending therebetween,

an inverted U-shaped vertical frame member including a pair of spaced parallel legs and a bight portion interconnecting said legs at their upper ends, a wheel and axle assembly carried by the lower end of said legs, the bight portion of said vertical frame member being spaced for- -wardly of the bight portion of said main frame, a seat assembly fixed to the rearward end of said main frame,

said seat assembly including a pair of mounting elements disposed in laterally spaced relationship and fixed to said main frame, and a seat carried 'by said mounting members and longitudinally shiftable thereon to one of a number of predetermined fixed points, said mounting members being of triangular configuration each having one leg thereof disposed in substantially horizontal position, said seat including a base plate bridging said mounting members and having opposite side edge portions embracing said legs for longitudinal sliding movement therealong, and means for latching said base plate to said legs of the mounting elements in predetermined fixed positions therealong, said mounting members each including a further leg disposed vertically below said horizontal leg, each of said further legs overlying the bight portion of said vertical frame member and underlying the bight portion of said main frame member and being rigidly fixed to both such bight portions to interconnect said main frame and said vertical member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lapham Mar. 20, 1906 

